Alison P. Ranney

Managing Director

Alison Ranney specializes in leading CEO, President, Executive Director and other senior executive searches for mission-driven clients across the country and around the world. Based in Chicago, she leads the Chicago Office of Koya Leadership Partners.

Alison partners with a broad range of clients including foundations, cultural institutions, membership organizations, other nonprofits, colleges and universities. She has successfully led searches at the CEO, President, Executive Director, Dean, COO, CFO and VP levels as well as Board members.

Alison’s work has been featured in numerous publications over the years. In a 2017 cover page article, Crain’s Chicago Business profiled Koya’s efforts to strengthen and diversify the senior-most leadership at mission-driven clients in the Chicago area and nationally, noting “Koya Leadership Partners’ Alison Ranney is remaking what leadership looks like across the country.”

Representative clients include the John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Obama Foundation, the Art Institute of Chicago, the United Way and the American Red Cross. Alison also has deep expertise in Higher Education having led searches for the University of Chicago, the University of Michigan, Harvard University, Stanford University, Northwestern University and the University of Pennsylvania, among others.

Prior to joining Koya, Alison was with Russell Reynolds Associates, where she led the development of the Nonprofit practice in the Midwest and received the firm’s inaugural award for Excellence in Client Service.